


Unlike Any Woman

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Number The Stars [15]
Category: Numb3rs, Stargate Atlantis, Thoughtcrimes
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 03:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6452809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: Thoughtcrimes/Stargate Atlantis(/any), any, outsider's POV.</p><p>Teyla on Amita.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unlike Any Woman

Dr. Amita Ramanujan was unlike any woman Teyla had ever met. Most Athosian women were, of a necessity, physically strong, good hunters, mothers and wives and leaders, because it required everyone’s best efforts to keep their people alive against the constant incursions of the Wraith. Amita was no soldier, though she appeared competent enough with a firearm.  
  
She was no hunter - she actually eschewed eating meat, which Teyla had heard of, but usually only in relation very strict religious practices. (Later John Sheppard explained that for Amita it was partly religious, partly cultural, though Amita never mentioned any gods or creators in her life.)  
  
Amita was no mother and no wife. She was very close with John Sheppard, but not in any way that suggested they were lovers. Instead, they were comrades-in-arms, had been through great struggles together. Teyla wondered if they’d been in captivity together, forced to rely on each other, from the way they could communicate so much without a word, how a look from one could inspire quiet laughter in the other.  
  
Amita was no leader, either, because Rodney McKay was the chief scientist. Amita did calculations for some of Rodney’s projects, and she also acted as a translator, but she did not oversee anyone else. When Teyla joined John Sheppard’s gate team, she saw that Amita deferred to John on basically every military decision, that she followed his commands as if she were one of his marines. Elizabeth Weir seemed to respect Amita’s opinion, particularly when it came to whether a new contact was an ally or an enemy, but at the end of the day Amita was just another scientist on the Expedition.  
  
Amita was kind, though. Would commiserate with Teyla when the men were being, well, men. And she was better at explaining some Earth concepts better than John was. Like the Earth fascination with football. Or John’s interest in the music of a man named Johnny Cash. Amita had a lovely singing voice, and sometimes when she and Teyla were filling out reports together - Amita helping Teyla with her English writing skills in exchange for lessons in the Athosian language - Amita would sing softly to herself.  
  
One song she sang often made no sense. _Scooby dooby doo, where are you?_ Half of the time, Amita would catch herself singing the song and sigh, roll her eyes, like she found the song annoying.  
  
Teyla wondered if she had ever found Scooby Dooby Doo, and why Scooby Dooby Doo had become lost.  
  
One night, Teyla stumbled across Amita and John while they were standing on the balcony outside control, leaning on the railing and looking at the stars.  
  
“Freya?” John said.  
  
Amita closed her eyes and sighed, tipped her head back. “You have no idea how good it is to hear you call me that.”  
  
“You doing all right?”  
  
“Yeah. Brendan?”  
  
John hummed happily. “Yes?”  
  
“Are _you_ doing all right?”  
  
John cast her a glance. “You’d be the first to know if I wasn’t.”  
  
“Sometimes I need you to be willing to tell me. I can’t always just hack into you and see. It’s not polite. I spent a good long time learning to be polite.”  
  
“I really am okay,” John said. “I kinda miss -”  
  
Amita slapped him on the arm. “Ew! No! How could you think of my sister like that?”  
  
John ducked away from her outraged swipes. “Hey, you just said you were being polite! I didn’t mean to, I just -”  
  
“I miss her too. Not the same way, obviously.” Amita snorted. “But I miss...Earth.”  
  
“This is home now,” John said.  
  
“Yeah. Where else would take a couple of freaks like us?”  
  
“We’re not freaks,” John said, and he nudged Amita’s elbow with his. “We’re perfect for this place.”  
  
“Yeah. We kind of are.” Amita yawned. “Now, I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow, John Sheppard.”  
  
“Tomorrow, Amita Ramanujan.”  
  
Teyla was gone before they noticed her. She took those two names - Freya and Brendan - and carried them with her until she learned what they really meant.


End file.
